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More Theory for Mortuary Research of the Viking World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ing-Marie Back Danielsson
Ing-Marie Back Danielsson*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden
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Abstract

This themed journal issue provides many examples of ways forward in the study of death and memory in the Viking world. While all contributions demonstrate that there are exciting new ways to study remains from funerary contexts that focus on different forms of citation involving material culture and monuments, this article will very briefly discuss dimensions that have not been addressed here. Specifically, it showcases how the mortuary citations approach can also use post-humanist theory for further development and exploration of mortuary practices in the Viking world. Although short, this article discusses rune stones, particularly rune stones with kuml inscriptions, which I have examined elsewhere. The term kuml appears on contemporary rune stones; it refers to different material entities such as rune stones, mounds/cairns, and other standing stones. The being and becoming of kuml is briefly discussed through the concepts of intra-action and agential cuts championed by Karen Barad.

Le thème de ce numéro spécial donne l'occasion d'illustrer maints exemples de nouvelles approches dans le traitement de la mort et de la mémoire dans le monde viking. Bien que toutes les contributions démontrent qu'il existe une multitude de nouveaux moyens d’étudier les contextes funéraires, en grande partie axés sur les différentes formes de citation impliquant la culture matérielle et les monuments, cet article se concentre sur une dimension qui n'a pas été abordée ici. Il s'agit de la façon dont les approches concernant la citation mortuaire pourraient aussi faire usage des théories post-humanistes afin de mieux comprendre les pratiques funéraires du monde viking. L'article traite de façon succincte les pierres runiques, en particulier les pierres runiques portant des inscriptions figurant le terme kuml. Le terme kuml figure sur des pierres runiques contemporaines et se réfère à des entités matérielles diverses, telles que les pierres runiques, les tertres/cairns et d'autres pierres dressées. La formation et l'existence de kuml en tant que concept sont brièvement évoquées à travers les notions d'intra-action et de réalisme agentiel avancées par Karen Barad. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Das Thema dieser Spezialausgabe gibt die Gelegenheit, zahlreiche Beispiele von neuen Ansätzen in der Erforschung des Todes und der Erinnerung in der Welt der Wikinger vorzustellen. Während alle Beiträge zeigen, dass es viele neue und aussichtsvolle Ansätze — die den Schwerpunkt auf Formen der materiellen Zitierung und auf Denkmäler legen — in der Forschung über Grabbefunde gibt, wird im vorliegenden Artikel eine andere Dimension, die anderswo nicht behandelt wird, kurz besprochen. Es handelt sich um die Frage, ob die Zitierung der Toten auch post-humanistische Theorien nützen könnte, um die Grabsitten der Wikingerwelt besser zu verstehen und weiter zu entwickeln. In diesem kurzen Artikel werden die Runensteine, besonders die Runensteine mit kuml Inschriften. Der Begriff kuml taucht auf zeitgenössischen Runensteinen vor, der Begriff bezieht sich auf verschiedene materielle Entitäten, wie Runensteine, Grabhügel oder Hügel und andere aufrecht stehende Steine. Das Sein und das Werden des kumls als Konzept werden hier durch die Begriffe der Intra-Aktion und des agentiellen Realismus von Karen Barad kurz besprochen. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

Viking periodrune stoneskumlBaradintra-actionagential cutsEpoque vikingpierres runiqueskumlBaradintra-action«agential cuts»WikingerzeitRunensteinekumlBaradIntra-Aktion„agential cuts”
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , 2016 , pp. 519 - 531
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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